TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: starting a sentence w/lower-case product name From:Laura Lemay <lemay -at- lauralemay -dot- com> To:William Sherman <bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com> Date:Fri, 8 Mar 2013 17:24:37 -0800
I worked for Yahoo! for a while, with different but similar issues. You just have to blunder ahead and use the trademark name as indicated. We had a lot of inappropriate excitement in our headings.
Laura
On Mar 8, 2013, at 5:19 PM, William Sherman wrote:
> Companies really help us out, don't they?
>
> This is always an awkward item to handle, and most simply avoid it. The first example I could think of was eBay, which is, of course, lower case for the beginning letter. Surprisingly, they were pretty good at the avoiding angle. However, I did find one place they didn't.
>
> Abusing eBay
> eBay and its community of users (the "Community") work together to keep our sites, services, applications, and tools working properly and the Community safe. Please report problems, offensive content, and policy violations to us.
>
> eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program works to ensure that listed items do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights of third parties. If you believe that your intellectual property rights have been violated, please notify our VeRO team through our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program.
>
>
>
> I think the trademark trumps the first letter upper case rule, since to do otherwise is to dilute the trademark and you don't want to do that. As to a definitive rule, I'm not sure. I looked through my copy of The Chicago Manual of Style but couldn't find anything.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Monique Semp" <monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>
> To: "TechWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 7:53 PM
> Subject: starting a sentence w/lower-case product name
>
>
>> Hello, writers,
>>
>> So when you have a product name that begins with lowercase letters, can you use that product name at the start of a sentence?
>>
>> I have a definite opinion (yes, it’s fine), and so while I’m certainly open to dissenting opinions, I’m more looking for an official “yes, it’s fine” item in any reasonably respected style guide. Or for that matter, a definitive rejection of my wishes in any reasonably respected style guide (such as the “write around” advice in The IBM Style Guide.)
>>
>> Can anyone provide such specifics?
>>
>> My googling hasn’t turned up anything other than lots of discussions. And my quick look through Chicago and The Microsoft Manual of Style didn’t turn up anything, either in agreement or dissent.
>>
>> Thanks, and I’ll look forward to your answers on Monday,
>> -Monique
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.
>>
>> Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z
>>
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com -dot-
>>
>> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
>> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>>
>>
>> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.
>>
>> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>>
>> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>>
>>
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2013.0.2904 / Virus Database: 2641/6157 - Release Date: 03/08/13
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as lemay -at- lauralemay -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.
